#KARA PLAYS BALDUR'S GATE 3

[meyerlansky]

how do you want me to see you? as a person? would that be so much to ask?

[theglowqueen]

I must have the horny glitch in my game because I remember people saying that it was hard to romance Lae'zel but like... I let her be mean to a tiefling and she immediately wanted to jump my bones

[verothexeno]

Etnar the Barbarian

Race: Green Dragonborn Sex: Male Age: Mid 30's Class: Barbarian - Wildheart (Bear) Special buff: Loviatar's Love Other: Can do minor cleric spells (healing, sacred flame), knows the "speak to animals" ritual. Romance in BG3: Shadowheart

Backstory:

Etnar was born in a little farmer village North of Baldur's Gate Outer City. He was barely a teenager when it got invaded by raiders and slavers, the village razed off the map and most of its inhabitants killed - Etnar's parents killed before him. Fueled by rage, the young Dragonborn managed to defend himself with any tools he could find, his actions soon attracting the attention of the slaver's boss; a man going by the nickname "Onyx". Captured alive, Etnar became a prized possession - only to be thrown into a made-up ring as a mere fighting dog. Onyx had assembled quite the collection of fighters over the years and was making good money over thugs of any background making bets. Some could even bring their own "champions", only to see who would come out alive.

The green Dragonborn quickly rose in fame, only by necessity and survival instinct. Over the years he grew into a mountain to be feared by most, if not all, slaves. But the first one to talk to him was an old human man, a cleric, brought in by trade and kept imprisoned close to Etnar. The years had not been kind to him and he had been a slave for so long; he knew that if he were to fight against that green menace, that would be his final battle. Instead he took the chance to discuss and knew there was still some good beneath those brutal scales... He taught Etnar some minor healing spells as a departing gift and a flicker of hope. Weeks later, forced to kill the old cleric, Etnar silently swore that one day he'd get out of this hell - even if that meant killing everyone in his path.

Then came along Maelon, a half-drow.

He had been captured in the dead of the night, after coming out of a tavern in the Lower city. At first there wasn't anything special about him; he was scared, loud, demanding to be released. Thrown in a cell next to Etnar, the hald-drow was already trying to get the Dragonborn's attention, only to be laughed at by the guards and told that there was no use trying to talk to his executioner... The first few days, both were silent. Etnar could tell the other was studying him - maybe out of fear, or out of scheming. When Maelon presented himself, the green one listened - maybe out of curiosity, or out of faint hope... There was this hunger for life the half-drow kept clinging to. There was no way he was going to die in this pit. There was no way he was going to be a slave. Maelon first thought that his pleas would fall into deaf ears, that he was only doomed to rant to muscles without a brain until the very hour of his death. So imagine his surprise when the barbarian solely nodded with a "I'm in".

The plan was simple: they would both get into the ring, let the battle start as intended, find the best cleared path, wreck havoc and run for their lives. By Etnar's brute force and Maelon's studies and gifted talent in fire magic, the duo brought chaos over the hideout. Yet in their escape, some slavers remained alive - Onyx included.

There was no time to dwell on that error. The duo ran and made their way to Baldur's Gate, finally free. Etnar and Maelon remained together when they reached the city, developping a friendship that was akin to a brotherly bond. Over the years they were able to fend for themselves and Etnar was finally learning to live again. But he never stopped searching for Onyx. Every scraps of information he could get his hands on soon led him to depart from the city, alone and against Maelon's pleas. Etnar had to kill Onyx. He had to get his revenge and put his past misery to rest...

Searching far and wide, he never found the man - only to be hinted that the slaver was making his way towards Baldur's Gate once more. As Etnar was heading back to the city and back to his friend after 3 years of search, nothing could've prepared him to be captured by mind flayers... *tun tuunnn*

There's a lot I'm skipping here, but I could always write down encounters and scenes in seperate posts. Overall, Etnar was a slave/"gladiator" for around ~15+ years, then escaped and finally became the good person he was supposed to be! Heavily against slavers and thugs in general, will always be kind and helpful to kids in needs, profound respect for animals and nature - the freedom aspect of it. He's a bit oblivious/stupid for some stuff at times due to his lack of life experience, and if someone he dislikes is getting annoying, he will be equally, if not more, annoying and harsh.

My best boy 💜✨

[fuckyeahbaldursgate]

Bhaal's errant progeny and BG3.

Hey all, just some witterings from me that I really wanted to post about a particular encounter because it just super irked me. This post contains spoilers for Act 3 and specifically the serial murders quest.

My overall view is that most of the returning cast from the original BGs have been treated fairly respectfully and consistent with their character arcs in BG1/2 however, there is one unfortunately that I just don't like and that's Sarevok. Yep he's back for a brief encounter where he's revealed to Orin's granddaddy and he's going to smack your butt for funsies. Now while I enjoyed the fight itself the overall conversation / plot points were kind of disappointing for the following reasons:

1.) No Kevin Michael Richardson. Given the guy recently starred in Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear and is a fairly prolific voice actor I have no idea why they didn't ask him to do this role and given his distinctive voice, it's really noticeable. I appreciate with the other returning characters haven't got their original VAs either but I think Jaheria and Minsc's VAs do a good impression of originals and in some ways can hide behind the accents of the characters.

2.) Ignores the impact of Imoen's soul. It's referenced in the conversation that the fairest Bhaalspawn resurrected him so that implies that BG3 assumes it was Imoen who gave a bit of their soul to revive him in Throne of Bhaal. Now there were a few conversations that touched upon the fact that Sarevok was actually mildly influenced by this (he has cravings for sweet things and other strange things etc.). I'm not saying that this would have completely turned him overnight into a good guy but his re-embracing of Bhaal seems contrary to this.

3.) Inconsistent with conversations with Sarevok in BG1/Throne of Bhaal. In my view, the game is fairly clear that Sarevok's goal was never to serve the Lord of Murder but to become him. Furthermore, in TOB he actually seems pretty accepting of the fact that he failed to achieve that and is almost regretful in places, particularly in relation to Tamoko's fate. Why has he gone back to serve the Lord of Murder no less in BG3 when he wasn't really a true believer in the first place.

4.) Inconsistent with Sarevok's epilogue at the end of Throne of Bhaal. Sarevok's arc in TOB revolved around the nature versus nurture argument. One of the big challenges the Bhaalspawn faces is the revelation that Gorion had the opportunity to take either you or Sarevok and it was pure luck that you were chosen instead of him. The question for the Bhaalspawn is: would you have turned out exactly the same as Sarevok had you not lived in the relative safety of Candlekeep? Sarevok is given an opportunity to do things differently at the end of TOB. His epilogue notes that he never settled in one place for too long, routing an army of orcs before he conquered an entire city by himself only to then mysteriously vanish. The epilogue concludes that he actually returned to Kara-Tur to bury Tamoko and never returned, which ultimately suggests that Sarevok is a changed man at the end of TOB.

So yeah it seemed really lazy to me that he's just back as another mook of Bhaal for you to mow down. Now I've been playing a fairly neutral drow wizard who turned down the offer of becoming an assassin of Bhaal so maybe this comes across better if you have more time to talk to him but yeah was left feeling a bit sad by how he ended up in BG3.

[leomonae]

Kara-Tur is your Faerunian east Asia, incidentally! BG2 had a companion who was from there (Yoshimo, and just to warn you, any wiki article etc about him will have just massive spoilers if you haven't played that game).

Also Sarevok's old lover, Tamoko, who left him over the whole trying to become a god thing, was from one of the nations of Kara-Tur. Sarevok may or may not have gotten her killed, depending on player choices. BG2:ToB actually ends with him going to bury her in her homeland.

Fantasy and Racism

For those who have not heard about it yet: There is a very racist and queerphobic game mod for Baldur's Gate 3. A mod that basically removes all queerness from the game as well as modding all non-white characters white. All obviously under the excuse of "but that is realistic because medieval fantasy world". Which is bullshit. I talked about it before. But it is bullshit and we all know it.

It is one of the reasons I so rarely engage with a lot of high fantasy media. Because so much of it - especially of course the big franchises - kinda succumbs to this idea of a very white, very straight, very cis medieval period, in which disabled kids probably are also like killed by the time of their birth or get "fixed" with magic.

Of course there is diverse high fantasy out there. But definitely the "norm" for the genre is something else. Now, of course there are works that still work in themes about this (The Witcher most of all), but yeah... A lot of high fantasy media LOVES TO HIDE behind the "oh, but that would be wrong historically!" excuse.

And as someone who is a history nerd, I never stop to get super angry about this. The middle ages were actually fucking queer and there were a lot of people who lived openly queer. We know about medieval trans folks, too - and given the fact that we know about less than 1% who lived during those 1000 years - there were a ton more.

We also know that there were people from Africa, the Arab world and Asia living in medieval Europe. Some of them have come there with the Romans, others have come there for research and trade. (The first European person in Japan, was a Roman, by the way.)

Meanwhile most of fantasy is very unrealistic when it comes to things like how society works or how HISTORY ITSELF works. Like, so much of medieval Europe was directly influenced by how Roman society, Christianity and the indigenous cultures of Europe interacted. But guess what? Most fantasy worlds do not have something like Rome in their background, do not have an institution like the Catholic Church, and also do not have any indigenouity. Your average fantasy world was born with folks having medieval technology and over the next 2000 years are very unlikely to develop past medieval technology. Which is very, very unrealistic. But guess what the folks who whine about gays in their medieval fantasy do not complain about?

And that is of course without going into the most obvious stuff: There were no elves in medieval Europe. There were no dwarves, no halflings, no gnomes, no orcs, no goblins, no dragons, no magic, no... Do I need to go on? And there was also not a big group of people running around raiding some old graves and ruins (which were also trapped with all sorts of magic and what not). And indeed there were no gods that threatened to END THE FUCKING WORLD at least once per decade.

Heck, speaking about Baldur's Gate 3 itself, I am more frustrated that there are not more non-white persons around. Like, the only east Asian character I have interacted with was Cazador as far as I remember, and that... is not really great representation, you know? Like, I would have liked to have another non-white companion at least.

Especially as... Well, Faerûn/Toril is not the real world. So, for fuck's sake. The folks within that world can crossover as much as the IP holders want them to.

I mean, fuck. You know what exists within Faerûn? CHOCOLATE! Something that not only was not available in medieval Europe because the beans grew in the Americas, but something that in the form we associate with it was not invented until the 19th century!

Just, yeah. Fuck people who complain about "historical accuracy", because something is diverse and includes rep. Just fuck them.

[priestess-of-yuri]

i've been playing gaymes recently :3 NOT mobile gambling scams but actual games. btw.

1bitheart is one i've played before life stuff happened and i fell off but i never got that far through it. it's cute and mecore because i love my cute friend-making rpg so muchies :')

age of mythology: retold is a game i was OBSESSED with as a teen/young adult. it's a game my younger brother got me into and it's a pretty simple strategy action rpg(?) and it was so easy to pick back up. ah, the nostalgia...

and i haven't played fate/stay night: remastered yet recently but i did buy it! it's another game i didn't get through much of when i was younger, this one was on recommendation from ericius! i also bought webfishing on recommendation from star, a cute fishing gayme... i plan to buy baldur's gate 3 because it looks so fun from when i watched star play it and hy let me make choices... and spiritfarer is another gorgeous star rec because it sounds sooooo mecore. and i want to check out dark souls 2 on recommendation from kara as well...

girl i'm becoming a gaymer and getting closer to god amen. it's all about the tasks... the tasks are sacred...

i'm so glad my laptop can handle these games!!! i thought just because it was built for writing it wouldn't, but it can actually manage a game like age of mythology on standard specs i think? so it's pretty good. either way i don't have to wait ages saving up money for an asus rog ally to play gaymes... i can still save up for it if i want! but it's not necessary.

my laptop has a dodgy trackpad but there's a trick to kickstart it with the virtual trackpad. i just use the virtual one and keep trying the physical one until it works... i don't get how that works but whatever works right? heheh.

i'm having so much funnnnn.

if you want to add me on steam you can btw! 🧡

[kasualkaymer]

i am waiting for the crossover of "new baldur's gate 3 enjoyers" and "doomed by the narrative enjoyers" to get their shit together, play baldur's gate 2, and report back to me concerning a certain charismatic man from kara-tur

[starlightcleric]

Since I still have to wait another two whole weeks for Baldur's Gate 3, I've gone back to thinking about my Charnames from BG1&2 (picrew here).

First we have Sigrdrifa, the LG human Paladin (Cavalier). My first character, the one I beat BG1 with and started Siege of Dragonspear. Her party was Imoen, Jaheira, Branwen, and Neera (I kept the sixth slot open to cycle people through for their quests, but ended the game with that slot empty). But I've been putting off importing her into BG2, because, well, who was she going to romance? Nothing felt right, I went through lists of mods, nothing felt right. So then it hit me: she's just ace? She cares about Justice and Honor and Big Swords and not dating.

Then we have Kara, the CG human Fighter (Barbarian). Kara exists, because a good ways into my BG1 game I was getting kind of worn down, the BGs are held up as the pinnacle of the crpg but it was honestly kind of dull, so I decided to skip forward to BG2 to see if it was better. And immediately I did like it better (well I still hate AD&D 2E but I can't do anything about that). So I went back to game 1. But I still liked Kara, hell she has a playlist I still listen to, so I booted up her game again today, realized I haven't played in like four years so I have no idea what's happening, and restarted. She rolled a 92 for stats which is good enough for me, she has 18/77 str, 18 dex, 18 con, and over 100 hp. Her planned party is Minsc, Jaheira, Nalia/Imoen, Aerie, and Haer'Dalis (with the Haer'Dalis romance mod).

[kingofthebottleshooters]

Get To Know Me Tag!

I was tagged by @hereforthehaunts, thank you very much! I’m doing this at work and have no idea who I’d tag in return, but if you see this and think it looks fun, consider yourself tagged.

Last Song: Purest Gold, by Miracle of Sound (and guest singer The Charismatic Voice) – a song inspired by Malenia, the legendarily cool and hard superboss from Elden Ring. MoS never fails to put out absolute bangers, so go give him a listen!

Currently Watching: Netflix Avatar, which is better than I expected, worse than I hoped, although in fairness I’m only three episodes in. We’ll see how it goes. Other than that, I’m approaching the halfway mark on Campaign 2 of Critical Role, being a very late comer to the show. I’m resigned to never managing to catch up to the live broadcasts, but hopefully I can at least finish Mighty Nein and the…Exandria? spin-offs by the end of the year.

Three Ships: I never really think of myself as being a shipper, to be honest…but I can still answer this lol. Supercorp, which is to say, Supergirl (Kara Danvers)/Lena Luthor, from the Supergirl CW show that finished…last year? is basically my main ship, even though I’ve not finished watching the show yet. I sometimes question whether I actually like the ship or whether it’s more the creative fire that it kinda sorta lit in me (I’ve not actually written much of anything for them, but oh boy do I have ideas), but that probably doesn’t really matter. Fem!Shep/Thane Krios, which is to say, Shepard and Thane from Mass Effect 2 onwards. Possibly somewhat unusually for a Mass Effect fan on Tumblr, I don’t actually have any real preference in ships for the series, but the playthrough where I did this romance was the one that tipped me over from “Mass Effect is a very good series of games that I enjoy a lot” to “Mass Effect is a core part of my personality, and I’m going to start a blog dedicated to the series (which has slowly but surely become a more general blog, as anyone who follows me can attest, but the point still stands)” Tav/Shadowheart, from Baldurs Gate 3. I’m fully intending to do all the romances, but both my playthroughs so far have wound up with her…

Favourite Colour: dark blue, I guess?

Currently Consuming: On any given day, there’s a decent chance I’m watching something by Outside Xbox/Outside Xtra, two hugely entertaining gaming Youtube channels, or their TTRPG spin-off channel Oxventure. I’m also trying to catch up on the Worlds Beyond Number TTRPG actual play podcast, from some of the minds behind Dimension 20 (which I haven’t actually watched beyond clips). I’m trying to finish Dark Souls 3 after an intended short break turned into about two years – just the second DLC and final boss to beat now, so fingers crossed! And I’m reading Nona the 9th, by Tamsyn Muir – too early in the book to comment on that, but I loved the first two books.

First Ship: probably Batman/Catwoman, I guess? Although I had a soft spot for Jacen Solo and Tenel-Ka from the old Star Wars expanded universe.

Place of Birth: UK

Current Location: Work

Relationship status: long term single

Last Movie: American Fiction (loved it)

Currently Working on: I am always mentally rotating my various fiction ideas, but the main thing I’m actually working on is the D&D campaign I’m running  - module based for the most part (Lost Mines of Phandelver, always a classic, with the intention of continuing into Princes of the Apocalypse), but one of the players came up with a backstory that’s going to require a homebrew plot if there’s ever going to be any resolution to it.

[tankbredgrunt]

End of year wrap-ups, 2023

It's presently June while I start to write this, and I thought if I wanted to put together a list of media consumed over 2023 I could at least get an early start, for as much my sake of mindfulness and talking about the things I loved/hated. If you're interested too, you can read more; first is video games, then music, then movies and tv, then books. If you feel like talking about anything in here don't hesitate! This is going to be a nightmare to tag though so, I probably won't lmao.

Nothing is necessarily ranked in order either btw, and just because I didn't write any thoughts with something doesn't mean I disliked it. Just no thoughts you know? I could have thoughts though. For the right price.

Viddy Games

For the games I haven't yet beaten but did spent some time playing, I made 12 hours of progress into Hollow Knight and am very keen to get back into it; I played Cyberpunk 2077 for about 47 hours, and am very keen to get back into it; Baldur's Gate 3 has ~9 hours at this moment, and I'm keen, etc; and Starfield has 32 hours in it and I am NOT keen to get back into it. I can get into that later though. 🏆 means I got the Platinum achievement trophy too :3

Last of Us Part 1 (x2)/Last of Us PS4 Remaster (x3)/Last of Us PS3 (x1) 🏆 - 5 stars On top of regular playthroughs, this year also marked the dip into Grounded mode. I completed one Grounded round on the Part 1 PS5 remake, and 2 more on the PS4 remaster (for the achievements). It would be impossible to discuss the reasons why I love this game so much so I will spare yall, a mercy dedicated to anyone who's already had to/gotten to hear me go on about it. I also got two TLoU tattoos this year. Ask me about my theories still though. One of my favorite moments from my 2nd Grounded run (Including one of the nearly-100 fuck ups leading up to that point):

Death Stranding - 5 stars I'm coming in to write about this one retroactively, because I've spent all this time since beating the game thinking about it. Did I understand half of what was going on? Vaguely, but it was beautiful, and heartfelt, and the world was interesting, and it satisfied the need I had to go outside and run my errands. Loved Cliff's character, and his plight as a father, how he carried it with him to the afterlife, and his speech to Sam is on loop constantly as a goosebumps generator. All the webs this story weaved came together and fray in such intriguing ways.

Detroit: Become Human (x2) - 5 stars These were my third and fourth playthroughs of this game and I find myself fonder for this little game each time I play. The perfect example of how a setting is so much deeper for the things it DOESN'T say than the things it does, once you think consider it. Under the cover of fun little robots, this world is so bleak, and I love the thought experiments. A very good example, imo, of what kind of tool cyberpunk really is as a setting. Quantic Dream also slips in one unanswered aspect into each of their stories, and while it's true that the ambiguity can be frustrating, Quantic Dream accidentally does it in a way that I find so alluring. Ra9, in this case, examining the clues on my own, coming to my own conclusions. It lets the world live on after the games have ended. I don't care about having answers--the game focused on what it needed to. It was not a portal into the greater world, it was one into Kara, Connor, and Marcus. We can look at the world on our own.

Disco Elysium - 4 stars Admittedly while this one took me a few months to finish, with a break spanning between November 2022 to March, and often found it VERY dense with information, I still really enjoyed myself. It's also the sort of narrative that is very self-aware, and as such pokes fun at itself, and as another such is sometimes lost under a few too many layers of irony and sarcasm. It's a bit hard sometimes to know what information to take seriously and what to disregard. As wonts these sorts of games the content is made entirely of dialog, very reading heavy, and puts me to sleep--I couldn't imagine playing this game without the stellar voice acting. Haunting and comedic sometimes even in the same line of dialog, I'm glad I found it after the Final Cut was released. Highly recommend, looking forward to another play-through.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 4 stars I loved BotW from the moment I got my Switch on launch day. Interestingly with TotK, I found my high opinion slipping the more I played, and too afterward. It seems more and more to me that Nintendo isn't exactly as keyed into what people are looking for with Zelda as they thought. TotK comes complete with shallow villains and anime tropes and a bastardization of a fair bit of the work done in BotW. It is not a story that is aware of it's own narrative, characters, or concepts. I don't say this as a person who demands to know which timeline and where exactly it takes place, only as someone invested in the universe and hopes to have somethings meaningfully extrapolated on. I'm hungry for subversion. Won't get much of that with this game sadly. That said, where gameplay was concerned I still really enjoyed myself. Before release I was worried how they would fill a world I've already spent 300+ hours exploring, and it turned out the answers were 2 entirely new maps and a largely transformed overworld. Discovering the newness in a world I already knew so well was fantastical. The building mechanics were enchanting, the shrines legitimately challenging, and the world still fun to explore. Don't see myself replaying for quite a while though, if ever, which was also the case with BotW. EDIT: having read and heard of all the nightmares about this games development since I've played it, just have to say 😬 yikes dude. Really recontextualizes the story for me. Idk though the gameplay was still super fun, so where an overall rating is concerned, I'm a bit conflicted. I'll leave it where it is I guess but let the record show it's still a Yikes from me about certain things.

Heavy Rain - 3.5 stars So, in the driver's seat of this, I found myself not doing much else besides complaining. The controls on the PC port are horrible; the 'twist' was less that and more... dishonest; voice acting was rough; David Cage exists; etc. But idk dude!! Something about it was still as charming as the first time!! It's been just about 10 years since I first played it at release, and the nostalgia was strong. It was a perfect distraction from real life at the time, and I've always looked back on the game fondly, though I've never replayed it. There ARE functional things I do dislike about the plot and writing and the awful ending, which discounts its score to the 3.5 star rating, but idk yall. I find Norman dorky and lovable, flawed yet well-intentioned; Ethan is a desperate dad trying to correct mistakes he still can't reconcile with; even Scott's motivations are understandable. I, like one key character, cannot deny that seeing a dad do whatever it takes to save his son? I'll have what he's having.

Oxenfree - 3 stars One thing about me is I have a great hatred for time travel stories. They always inevitably fall short. Oxenfree however used what I believe are the true assets of the trope. The struggle of fate, predetermination, and how-could-anything-be-different. (I also believe a key function of time travel stories is the character's understanding that they aren't the first version of themselves caught in the loops but that's a different convo). Anyway the ambiguous ending was also a big win to me. All in all a fun little game. Give it a try if you want some low-stakes entertainment with a good story.

The Uncharted series - a mixed bag So this doesn't include Uncharted 1, which I played damn near a decade ago when I first got my PS4 and the Nathan Drake collection. My thoughts on that are hazy but one I remember vividly--fuck the ship level. Anyway I mark this as mixed bag because my feelings towards it are complicated. I still felt the essence of NaughtyDog throughout, their care for their characters and sympathetic storytelling. While not as morally gray as their TLoU stuff, and rated Teen, it was still compelling, and despite my intense grievances with the combat systems in 1-2-3, I never questioned whether I would continue with the next game. However. Those grievances. Holy shit. Snap-to-cover is NEVER the answer, game devs. I know and forgive that games 1-3 are over a decade old, developers have better tools and understanding now. See an example of my jimmies being rustled here:

Take a shot each time a headshot doesn't hit. For gameplay reasons only I can't give the first 3 games any higher than 3 stars. And even though 3 has the best story of the 3, gameplay might even knock that one down to a 2. Anywho, the whiplash in quality between 3 and 4 was insane. I played the PS5 port, and loved everything about 4. Loved Sam, loved baby Nate, loved the story. It was as if ND had kept a .txt file of every single issue up till that point and corrected each of them. Seeing the bones of TLoU2 was also nice. Phenomenal game, and I look forward to playing it again sometime soon. Ratings for each game go: Uncharted 2 and 3 - 3 stars Uncharted 4 - 5 stars Uncharted: Lost Legacy - 4 stars Sadly I don't have the tools or plans to play the PSP game. PS Vita? Either way.

Last of Us Part 2 (x3) - 4 stars This was probably my 3rd time playing TLoU2, and while I don't have many strong comments to make concerning the story, I feel like this was finally the first time I truly understood Ellie's character in this game. The truth of her grief and what it was really over. And Abby as well, how she wasn't just a foil for Ellie, but for Joel as well. That said, I do still feel I would love this game so much more if it was just told linearly. The pacing is DOGshit dude, wow. Love it though. I've also completed a Grounded playthrough and got the Plat trophy this year as well, which I only mention for bragging rights 💅

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice 🏆 - 5 stars I don't think I have much to say about this game besides general comments about how phenomenal the experience was. Never played anything like it. Fun exploration, environmental puzzles, great visuals. Combat was good, sound design was excellent. Story was good, acting was amazing. All around VERY thrilled I played.

Assassin’s Creed: Mirage 🏆 - 5 stars I GOTTA SAY, This game surprised the hell out of me. I’m on a journey to play all the Assassin’s Creed games; so far I’ve finished 8 out of ~18. For how badly Valhalla sucked ass I was hesitant to play this one, since it acts as a sort of prequel to a particular character, but DAMN if this didn’t completely surprise me. The world was incredibly fun to explore, and even included environmental puzzles. You will legitimately feel like an assassin with the amount of player freedom this game gives you, and the story was just as good. Best Assassin’s Creed game? 👀 Hard to say till I’ve finished them all but so far it’s absolutely a contender. Basim I love youuuuuu

Unmentioned, in alphabetical order: [Assassin's Creed 1 - 2.5 stars; Assassin's Creed 2 - 3.5 stars; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: China - 3 stars; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: India - 3.5; Assassin's Creed: Chronicles: Russia - 3.5 stars; Beyond: Two Souls - 3 stars; Ghost of Tsushima - 4 stars; Gone Home - 3 stars; Indigo Prophecy - 2 stars; It Takes Two - 3 stars; A Plague Tale: Innocence - 3.5 stars; The Quarry - 2.5 stars; SEASON - 3 stars; Spider-Man 2 (2023) 🏆 - 3 stars; Stray - 3.5 stars; Super Mario Wonder - 4 stars; Twin Mirror - 3 stars; Viewfinder - 3.5 stars; A Way Out - 3.5 stars; Where the Goats Are - 3 stars]

Starfield: Putting this one down here at the bottom so I don't start this list out with complaining lol. Anyway the fact this game was nominated for Best RPG at the game awards tells me they don't play some of the games they nominate lol. I don't think I've ever had an experience like this game gave me. I somehow played 30 hours, and had a great time, before realizing it was bad. Nothing happened in the story to stop me, there wasn't suddenly a new gameplay mechanic that I didn't agree with. There was just something in the glamour of those 30 hours that got me. Maybe it was the father figure referring to me with neutral pronouns. But anyway I guess I just came to my senses. I took a break to play something different, came back, and it was an entirely different game. The overworld is barren. They expect you to explore hundreds of plants that have nothing on them besides some minerals and animals you scan. These are laaaaarge swaths of time spent running back and forth in near silence, because not only is there next to nothing meaningful to interact with on these worlds, your companion repeats the same 5 quips the entire time. There are no tools to traversing the overworld more quickly, so you are running for thousands of kilometers so you can scan a useless monument and get 20XP. There is no incentive to exploring, there is no incentive to doing anything other than fast-traveling to your next destination--until the game stops you for not having the appropriate ship parts installed, and you realize it's going to be a 5 hour grind to upgrade that part. Looking back at those 30 hours I enjoyed, this was all still there, but idk man, idk. For this amount of content this should have only been a $30 game, MAX, and they sell it for $70. But I bought it for $70, so who is the real chump here. I think the only thing I truly enjoyed (besides Sam Coe) was the mission 'Entangled', where you are unwillingly forced between two alternate universes, due to an experiment in a research facility. It sits right on the cusp of horror, between one universe where the research facility exploded and nature took it back, and another where the explosion never happened. There is drama, intrigue, decisions, exploration, everything. Nothing else in the game came close at all to touching that and I'm mad I spent so long before realizing it. Who wrote this mission, so I can thank you?

Music (and the lyrics that make it)

My complete 2023 favorites Spotify playlist

Favorite albums: Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain Slut Pop by Kim Petras Guard Dog by Searows I Let It in and It Took Everything by Loathe Heavy Glow by Soulkeeper

Individual tracks and my favorite lyric: Master & A Hound by Gregory Alan Isakov 'Where were you when I was still kind?' Sun Bleached Flies by Ethel Cain 'If it's meant to be then it will be.' Don't Keep Driving by The Paper Kites 'There's nothing wrong with a little space. But not right now; don't leave.' Honey Dripping Sky by Georgia 'No matter how hard we try, I won't deny--it's for you.' Coming Clean by Searows 'If I kill you would I have to forgive you still?' Francesca by Hozier 'I’d tell them put me back in it. [Darling,] I would do it again.'

TV and Movies

I am severely illiterate when it comes to movies so the goal this year was to have watched at least one movie a week. Did I succeed,Future Me? [Yeah!]

Kingsman: Secret Service and :Golden Circle - 5 and 4 stars The cinematography?? The choreography? Hello? Across both movies, they were all so incredible. While Secret Service was my favorite of the two, Golden Circle had my favorite fight (though the church scene is a clooooose second)(Pedro Pascal I love you):

Gentlemen Bronco - 2 stars This movie was dull as shit BUT, it had one of my favorite scenes of the year.

Knock at the Cabin - 3.5 stars Just wanna put this one here real quick to get the Worms out--what was the point? Narratively, what was the point? I have been rolling this movie around my head since I watched last night and I'm hoping to read the book soon for better context, but man. While I enjoyed this movie a lot I just do not follow the themes, more so considering the ending. Was it a fight against providence and predetermination, only to prove its own point? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (Mr. Spock)? I can't tell exactly what this movie was asking me. As a rule I generally don't enjoy stories where the psychos are proved right with no closer examination of the themes and circumstances. Like yeah the MCs being a gay couple framed the story differently but that is also just a side effect of having distinctive characters lmao. It also insulated some sacrificial-minority stuff? Weird. And asks no questions about fate or anything, which is a wild loop considering Andrew's previous history with Redmond (a red herring? However I feel if the intro of a red herring completely recontextualizes the larger possibilities of the world, then it's not a good red herring, it's lazy). Ultimately I understand a theme is save your family or save humanity--it's on the DVD cover lol. But yeah man idk. All the other stuff, it made for a weird soup that I just cannot decipher. Anyway. EDIT: I have since read the source novel and it was incredible. I will not be watching any more Shyamalan movies lmao

Pacific Rim - 5 stars I also don't have anything much deeper to say about this than gotTDAMN dude, what a good fucking movie. I decided to watch because of all the Pacific Rim AUs that take place in fandom, and I decided I finally needed to know why and I DO know why now because good lord. What a good movie. That said the sequel was a hot pile.

The Arrival - 3 stars The way this movie had my heart racing the entire time--and shat it all away at the immediate end. Pure whiplash. "You know what surprised me the most? It wasn't meeting them. It was meeting you." What kind of straight nonsense. What kind of anticlimactic. What kind of bullshit. I was immediately snapped to my senses, I'm not over exaggerating. Insanity.

Unmentioned, in alphabetical order: [After Yang - 4 stars; Assassin's Creed (2016) - 2 stars; Asteroid City - 4 stars; Barbie - 4 stars; Begotten (1990) - 2 stars; Bullet Train - 4 stars; Come and See (1985) - 3 stars; Dead Poets Society - 3 stars; El Dorado - 3 stars; Grave Encounters - 3 stars; The Green Knight - 4 stars; The Hateful Eight - 5 Stars; IT and IT: Chapter 2 - 4 stars; Jennifer's Body - 3 stars; King of the Hill (all 13 seasons) - episode determinate; Knives Out - 5 stars; Knives Out: Glass Onion - 2 stars; Labyrinth - 2 stars; Lady Bird - 3 stars; Lake Mungo - 3 stars; The Lighthouse - 3 stars; Mad Max: Fury Road - 3 stars; The Magnificent Seven (1960) - 4 stars; The Magnificent Seven (2016) - 3.5 stars; Martyr (2008) - 3 stars; Matrix - 3 stars; Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions - 1 star; The Menu - 4 stars; Midnight Mass - 4 stars; My Own Private Idaho - 3 stars; NOPE - 4 stars; Once Upon a Time in the West - DNF; Possum - 3 stars; The Power of the Dog - 3 stars; RE: Damnation, Death Island, Degeneration, Infinite Darkness, and Vendetta - 3 stars; Saltburn - 3.5 stars; Seven Samurai (1954) - 3 stars; The Shape of Water - 4.5 stars; Skinamarink - 3 stars; Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 2.5 stars; ST: Search for Spock and ST: Voyage Home - 4 stars; ST: The Wrath of Khan - 4.5 stars; The Thing (1982) - 3 stars; The Thing From Another World (1951) - 3 stars; Tideland (2005) - 2 stars; Unforgiven - 4 stars; The VVitch - 3 stars]

Favorite Books

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez - 5 stars I have never EVER in my life read a book like this one, and I urge everyone to give it a try. Two men must escort a dying god across the country in order to stop the control of her tyrannical children. If you aren't digging the book, at least try and make it 100 pages in. The beginning, like every chunky fantasy, is a bit of a tough learning experience, and the uniqueness of the prose didn't exactly make it an easier task. However, it makes it extremely lyrical and poetic, and intriguing. The entire package is mind-blowingly unique. AND it ends happily, if that makes you feel better.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers - 5 stars My thoughts on this little story aren't overly complex or anything, I just found the setting very nice, the B plot concerning Earth interesting, and the ambiguous ending intriguing. While the events might be a little harrowing it was the hopeful attitude of the prose and characters that made it very comforting nonetheless. I loved the experience while I was reading it, and think about the ending now, even all these months after reading.

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr - 4 stars A black sleep car porter tries to keep his job and his sanity after their train is stopped by a mudslide. Before this I can say I'd never read anything in this setting before, and it was what drew me in initially, but it was the writing that really captivated me. The narrative has a very intimate feeling, nostalgic almost, as if you're hearing the story secondhand even as you read. It's also refreshing when a book just says 'cock', and no extra-curricular euphemisms. Where's that video of Taron Egerton saying cock over and over btw cause I can't find it

The Magpie Coffin by Wile E Young - 4 stars The first in a collection of splatterpunk westerns?? It was so fun to read, and the cover is so badass. It knew what it was and it did so well.

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz - 4 stars A young Swedish boy, separated from his brother, fends for himself in the early USA west. I was on hold for this through my library for nearly a month and a half, so by the time I got it in my grubby hands my exciting was pretty high. Though I found much of it slow, I was still somehow on the edge of my seat. It's a crime that this was the Pulitzer runner-up, and that Less by Andrew Greer won instead. It's been a very very long time since I've felt so strongly about the well-being and outcome of a character but Hakan if you're out there--I love you.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 5 stars

Nothing to add to this decade long conversation other than this holds up :’) I was gasping like I was in high school again, reading it for the first time.

Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order by author last name: [A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers - 4 stars; How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix - 4 stars; Texas Outlaw by Richard Jessup - 4 stars; Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie - 4 stars; Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - 4 stars; Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum - 4 stars; The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage - 4 stars; East of Eden by John Steinbeck - 5 stars; The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay - 4.5 stars]

LEAST Favorite Books

I'm nothing if not a hater so I wanted to give some space to the books I most disliked.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer - DNF SAUR upset that this won the Pulitzer prize of its year instead of In The Distance by Hernan Diaz. 100 pages into it and I could not find anything redeeming about the main character. Pretentious, bitter. Like maybe that was his arc? He would outgrow that maybe. But it was just not the book nor the characters for me, unfortunately, so I did not stick around long enough for that to happen.

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon - DNF WHEW boy was the writing in this one bad. Like yall ever read a queer book and just know it was written for straight people? Let me find a picture I took of one paragraph.

Yikes and a half, dude. Anyway

Meat by Joseph D'Lacey - 1 star This was just plain bad. Like 'Oh isn't it so crazy they're eating people?? They're treating people like cattle, that's so demented right??' No. Not really. There's cannibalism in the cannibalism genre? Get a grip. I live near Donner Pass, we got cannibalism in the water here. Although maybe I'm also partially to blame for expecting some deeper storytelling from splatterpunk.

The Troop by Nick Cutter - 2 stars I don't know that I have anything really critical to say about this book other than I just didn't enjoy it. Writing was fine, prose was fine. It's told a bit out of order, think Carrie by Stephen King--snippets of interviews and articles detailing the aftermath of the events of the book. I do remember thinking that the facts were contradicting themselves a few times but was really not invested enough to care too deeply. The isolated, abandoned feeling we get from the island was nice, and the atmosphere good, I just don't believe Nick Cutter is a good writer. A bit too many slurs in here as well, methinks.

Books I DNF'd: With 15 in total this was the year of DNFing for me; it's amazing was Prozac can do for a person. (Disclaimer: I've only listed 13 of them here. The other two had to go back to the library before I could finish them so I marked them as technical DNFs :( and it doesn't feel right to include them in this list for haters)

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon (explained above) The Singularities by John Banville (nothing offensive, just didn't vibe. Books will often try way too hard on the opening paragraph and I'm not here for a philosophy lesson as I crack open a book you know what I mean) Heartless by Marissa Meyer (I just don't think YA does it for me anymore) There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (" ") If We Were Villains by ML Rio (I just don't like being lectured and this book was clearly written for someone who wasn't me lol) Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (I find that a lot of times thrillers written by women employ stereotypes against men and their 'perverse' sexual tastes. The lines between pornography/fantasy and reality don't seem as nuanced in this genre, unfortunately. A man is not immediately a villain because he enjoys CNC or roleplay, and the pearl clutching is a little tired) Campfire Cooking in Another World by Ren Eguchi (why is every light novel like this:

The Lies of Locke Lamore by Scott Lynch (this was too quippy for my tastes. It was a little too busy being clever and not busy enough being interesting.) Less by Andrew Greer (Mean Gays, the next Tina Fay movie) Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (just wasn't my cuppa) Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (I read a review that counted how many times Zane Grey used 'sage' in this book. I don't remember the number but there was a lot of them. Too much mormanism going on, just wasn't my cuppa) The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (only alright, not bad but wasn't going anywhere fast. More of a character focused, soft bit of mystery, which was fine, I just didn't find myself enjoying the characters either) Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (I just wasn’t vibing you know how it is)

2023 Reading Statistics

I also keep a track of the pages read and ratings, as well as genre, where I read the book and in what format, so I'll put that here too for posterity's sake. And If you'd like, I use GoodReads, and we can be friends!

62 books read 18,217 pages in total 3.25 average star rating 19 (30.6%) of the books read were owned; 43 (69.4%)(nice) were from the library 14 (75.8%) were physical books; 12 (19.4%) were ebooks; 3 (4.8%) were audiobooks

That's it! I don't make reading goals anymore, in terms of how many to read, but I do know I want to TRY and read the copy of Battle Royal I've had since my junior year of high school. And I'd like to try and finish the Tsubasa manga series, since I never made it past volume 15 I think. I can't think of anything other than that! It was a good year!

[meyerlansky]

literally the only party member with any game at all

[rainbow-rebellion]

I may have giggled just a little when I saw @jazzfordshire post about playing a “beefy Kara Danvers flavored paladin” in Baldur’s Gate 3, because I myself most definitely and quite shamelessly named and styled my Diablo 4 rogue after one Kara Zor-El Danvers 😁 I think I may need to make an additional character for myself just so that I can also have a sultry looking Lena Luthor sorceress 😄

[drhu0806]

28 - “I may not get another chance to say this.”

Fandom: Baldur’s Gate 3 (fanfiction) Characters: Astarion, custom side character Rating: G Warnings: none unless you count in-laws who don't like each other

Who knew the nobility really did know their way around cushy beds? Kainé can’t remember the last night she’s felt so well rested as she rises from the feather soft canopy.

The rest of the party seems to feel the same, looking better than they have all journey as they rouse and prepare to leave. Halua is already up as well as the servants, the manor a whirl of activity as she’s up and about running the household.

“Do you really have to go?” she asks morosely as she sees them off.

Kainé folds her into a tight embrace, giving her a squeeze. “「放心， 妹妹」”she reassures. “I promise I’ll be back.”

“You better.”

Halua can’t help but feel like a little girl again, when she would see her sister off for the day. Back then, she remembers so desperately wanting to follow and join her wherever she went. She thought she’d outgrown that, but here she is again, watching her walk away, not knowing where she was going or when she’d return.

But they both have their roles to play now. And she can only do what she can.

She seeks out the fair haired elf, the vampire spawn that is impossibly somehow involved with her sister. Reining in her pride, she clears her throat to get his attention.

Astarion looks up with a raised eyebrow. The two have never gotten along well since they met not too long ago, but they’ve wordlessly settled into an uneasy truce in the meantime.

“Yes, Your Ladyship? What can I do for you?”

Every word, especially the title, drips with condescension, and Halua resists the urge to grimace and roll her eyes. Every one of Astarion’s mannerisms reminds her of the other snooty nobles she’s encountered in the Upper City, and it’s only due to that experience that her patience with him has lasted this long.

“Before you go, I do have a request to ask of you.”

“Ooh, lovely. The well-off lady of the house dares ask me for something? I never thought I’d see the day.”

She doesn’t understand how Kainé tolerates him, but she plows on. “I may not get another chance to say this, but… Please, bring her home safe.”

He looks back at her, unimpressed. “I hardly need you to ask me that in order to do so.”

“No, I just—listen, I’m sure you know this already, but she’s the only family I have left on this side of Toril. My father, I never knew him because he died on our way out of Kara Tur protecting us from bandits. My mother was killed saving my sister, and my grandmother died because she was protecting something too. I just…” Halua takes a deep breath. “Sometimes I feel like my big sister is going to go the same way too. So please, just… Please don’t let her throw her life away like some martyr.”

Her openness catches Astarion off guard, and in that moment he can see the resemblance between the two sisters a little more clearly. Without the upper class pomp—and he can’t believe he’s saying this—Halua actually seems likable.

In the end, he can’t fault her for anything. After all, don’t they both want the same thing?

Dropping any pretense of disdain, he answers, “I’ll keep her safe.”

He promises nothing, not when he knows the insane odds they face. But by now even he understands the power and value of hope, and it’s enough to come through in his words. Satisfied, she nods, her back straightening as the noble lady persona returns.

“Then I hope to see you all when you return. And Astarion?”

“Hm?”

“...You take care of yourself, too.”

“I always do, my lady.”

[yoshinorecommends]

A - G Fandoms & Characters Masterlist

A

A Court of Thorns & Roses

A Date with Death

A Quiet Place

A Series of Unfortunate Events

A Sign of Affection

Ace Attorney

Addams Family

Adventure Time

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Akatsuki no Yona

Alexander

Alice in Borderland

Alienist

Aliens

American Animals

American Assassin

American Gods

American Heist

American Horror Story

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American Psycho

An American Werewolf in London

Anastasia

Animal Kingdom

Anne With An E

Apothecary Diaries

Arcana

Arcane

Arknights

Atomic Blonde

Attack on Titan

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Austin Powers

Author Of My Own Destiny

Avatar

Avatar: The Last Airbender

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B

B the Beginning

Baby Driver

Babysitter

Back To The Future

Backstage

Bad Times At The El Royale

Bakugan

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Balance: Unlimited

Baldur's Gate 3

Bandstand

Barbie

Barry

Be More Chill

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Bear

Beastars

Beautiful Creatures

Beauty and the Beast

Beetlejuice

Ben 10

Beware of the Villainess

Big Hero 6

Bill and Ted

Black Butler

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Black Mirror

Bleach

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Blood of Zeus

Bloodsucking Bastards

Blue Lock

Bodyguard

Bohemian Rhapsody

Boku no Hero Academia

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Boondock Saints

Boy

Boy Meets World

Boys

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Brand New Animal

Breakfast Club

Breaking Bad

Bridgerton

Bright

Broadchurch

Brooklyn Nine Nine

Brother's Conflict

Brutal: Confessions of a Homicide Investigator

Bucchigiri

Buddy Daddies

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Bungo Stray Dogs

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C

Call of Duty

Candyman (Movie)

Castlevania

Carmen Sandiego

Carrie

Castle Rock

CBS Ghosts

Celebrities

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Chainsaw Man

Child’s Play

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Cinderella Wasn't Me

Cobra Kai

Coffin of Andy and Leyley

Constantine

Craft

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Crew

Criminal Minds

Crimson Peak

Critical Role

Cruel Intentions

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Cuphead

D

Dance Academy

Dangan Ronpa

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Dawn of the Dead

DC Universe

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Dead By Daylight

Dead Poets Society

Deadman Wonderland

Deadly Class

Dear Evan Hansen

Death is the Only Ending for the Villainess

Death Note

Death Parade

Defending Jacob

Degrees of Lewdity

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Derry Girls

Descendants

Detroit: Become Human

Connor

Daniel

Josh

Kara

Markus

North

Ralph

RK900

RK800 60

Simon

Devil All the Time

Devil May Cry

Devil's Advocate

Devilman Crybaby

Dharma and Greg

Diabolik Lovers

Ayato Sakamaki

Azusa Mukami

Laito Sakamaki

Reiji Sakamaki

Shin Tsukinami

Subaru Sakamaki

Yuma Mukami

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Dirt

Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Disney

Dissmissed

Divergent

Doctor Who

Ninth Doctor

Tenth Doctor

Eleventh Doctor

Twelfth Doctor

Thirteenth Doctor

Doki Doki Literature Club

Donnie Darko (film)

Dororo

Dorohedoro

Dr Stone

Dracula

Dragon Prince

Dune

Dungeon Meshi

Dunkirk

Durarara

Dynasty

E

Elite

Elvis

Emma

Encanto

Enola Holmes

Evil Dead

F

Fairy Tail

Fallout

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fargo

Fate Grand Order

Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!

Fear

Fear Street

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Final Fantasy

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Fire Emblem

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Fire Force

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Formula 1

Four Brothers

Fourth Wing

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

Aiichiro Nitori

Asahi Shiina

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Momotaro Mikoshiba

Nagisa Hazuki

Natsuya Kirishima

Rei Ryugazaki

Rin Matsuoka

Seijuro Mikoshiba

Sosuke Yamazaki

Friday the 13th

Friends

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From Dusk Till Dawn

Frozen

Fruits Basket

Full House

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Fury

G

Game Grumps

Game of Thrones

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Gangsta

Gen V

Genshin Impact

Get Schooled

Ghost

Gifted

Gilmore Girls

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Ginny and Georgia

Gintama

Girl Meets World

Girl Next Door

Goblin Slayer

Godless

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Good Doctor

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Good Omens

Good Place

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Gossip Girl (HBO)

Gotham

Graceland

Granblue Fantasy

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Grease

Great Gatsby

Great Wall

Greatest Showman

Greenhouse Academy

Grey’s Anatomy

[meyerlansky]

interesting thing i'm chewing on about astarion and the rest of the party:

the stuff tav talks with him about stays WAY more private than basically every other conversation the party characters have, whether with tav or with each other. gale talks to mystra in a little bubble that's just the two of them, no tav, no one else? the whole party knows what he said (or didn't say) in that conversation. wyll changes the terms of his pact with mizora? even the newest recruits have an opinion about what he chose.

but no one has any of that relatively surface-level information about astarion—except the player character—despite the conversations happening in the same camp[s], with presumably the same amount of privacy, as every other companion conversation. DEEP into act iii, shadowheart is still making digs about him eating people, even though he tells tav in act i that he's never had sentient blood until the events of the game. jaheira calls him a slut when they're talking about being more comfortable in the city's back streets than in the polished touristy areas, despite the player knowing that the LAST thing he wants is to be seen as a sex object. he doesn't correct any of them, either. arguably he leans into it, which makes sense, considering he does the same thing in act i—before he trusts the player character enough to drop the mask.

that's not even getting into how the tadpole mind meld stuff plays in—either everyone is notably respectful of his boundaries [which, lmao. unlikely, considering no one respects his boundaries without a fight.] and doesn't go poking around in his head, OR he can somehow keep anyone trying out.

i dunno. it's interesting. it's an interesting writing and characterization choice, especially since it seems like it's ONLY astarion keeping the entire rest of the party at arms' length. he just seems so isolated, except for tav, and i'm feeling some kind of way about it.

[meyerlansky]

did they KNOW they were making an entire game about bodily autonomy and the trauma that comes from being denied it

or did that just happen to come out as a theme in the wash